A few weeks ago we published in our blog "Myths and curiosities of impact pistols (1st part)". In this article, we are going to show you more information about impact guns. If you want to know more about this tool, you can consult another of our articles "The impact gun, one of the most versatile tools in the industry.".
Power of impact guns
"The more feed pressure, the more power.". It is a common myth, in absolute terms it is correct, but it is necessary to qualify it. Most manufacturers implement performance data at feed pressures of 6 bar (6.2 bar or 90 PSI in the case of American manufacturers such as Ingersoll Rand). Below this value, especially 4 bar, performance is considerably reduced due to the behavior of the vane air motors.
But what if I have an air line at 8 bar, 10 bar or even higher? It is true that the motor with more pressure will have more power and better performance. On the other hand, the impact mechanism will not work under optimal conditions. As the air pressure received by the motor increases, the velocity increases with respect to the original design and the hammers of the impact system start to move their impact point along the anvil. This means that the increase in impact force is not fully transmitted, so the power improvement is no longer proportional, and the wear on the mechanism increases exponentially. To summarize, although strength is gained with increased pressure, it does not pay off because the service life is considerably reduced.
Impact guns for assemblies
Impact guns are often mistakenly used in assembly processes. By definition, these tools are for the loosening of nuts and bolts. Due to its construction, operating system and lack of control mechanism, the torque delivered by an impact gun is virtually impossible to control. Although some latest generation models incorporate force limiters (allowing pre-tightening operations) and/or quite effective power regulators, most impact gun models lack these capabilities.
In future articles, we will explain more information about impact guns, their use and maintenance.
